You’re bound to appreciate StarBound
Starbound is an awesome game- but it’s not quite finished yet. Is it out on Steam? Yes, but it is still in early access mode. Does this mean it doesn’t play well right now? Absolutely not- it feels like a complete game at the moment. Am I posing too many questions that I’m just going to answer immediately afterward? Perhaps.
Starbound’s early access is exciting- this is a game I’ve been waiting for ever since I preordered it a few months back. This game has beautiful worlds, fantastic online gameplay, and exploration that really keeps things fresh. How was my experience, you may ask? Well I’ll tell you:
When I first launched Starbound, I was given options for what race of being I wanted to play as- so, naturally, I chose the avian race (BIRD PEOPLE!). My avian adventurer, that I thoughtfully named ‘Chirps’, was then alive and moving inside his very own spaceship. Right off the bat- things got awesome- after a little exploration of my ship’s functions and features, I was able to teleport down to my home-planet’s surface Star Trek style. Many skeptics are likely to think this is a knockoff of Re-Logic’s smash hit game Terraria- I mean, the game’s artist worked on Terraria, and the game has similar elements like mining ores and elements to become more powerful- but it isn’t like Terraria at all, it focuses more on exploration and quests and has elements of mining present because, why not?! You’re traveling from planet to planet, its only natural that you’re going to want rare exports from each planet to increase your wealth and power!
With that rant out of the way, one of the first things you do on your home planet is mine for ore so that you can build basic items that you’ll need. While mining, it is likely that you’ll encounter dangerous beasts of the wilderness or other races of individuals that can either help you or hurt you on your quest. The most unique difference from the game right off the bat when trying to compare the game to Terraria is that you have a special futuristic tool that does damn near everything you need it to- it can mine, place building materials on the ground, it can chop down trees… I really like this thing! The problem with Terraria is that you get thrown into the fire and you have to learn, by either finding out yourself or googling it, that you should get the tools you need to do anything in the game. Starbound outright gives you a tool that will solve your problems and basically says, “If you want a faster tool, make that tool yourself- but if you need my assistance, i’ll be here in your inventory to help.” This is a nice feature and really helps you jump into the gameplay without scratching your head for an hour or two.
The last thing that I’ve done by myself in Starbound and unsuccessfully so, is fight the tutorial boss. This boss is hard- ridiculously hard to destroy. I could tell you what the boss is- but that would spoil the surprise. I’ll just tell you this- the tutorial quests really are the bare bones for prepping for the boss battle, if you want to take down this sucker yourself- you’re going to need to make better weapons and armor. I’m really set on beating this boss… but alas, I have failed. You’d think I’d be mad about not beating the boss, but i’m not really- it’s my fault for not prepping for a battle and i’m glad that this game promises difficulty for its bosses because otherwise, i’d be bored hacking and slashing bosses without having to use any tact or skill.
The final thing I want to talk about before closing on these first impressions is the online- the online gameplay is where this game will exceed. Bar none. I’ve got a taste of playing Starbound online with some buddies and it really adds a dimension of fun to the game. Cooperating to clear out a mine or take down a boss really brings out the game’s full potential- and the fact that online gameplay doesn’t force you to stick with your friends is a nice touch (you can travel to different planets and do whatever you want while your friends are off mining in a cavern). Another aspect of the online that I think is great is the text-based chat: if you type a message out to friends, the text then appears in a speech bubble if that friend is nearby as if they’re communicating in the game- it’s a nice little touch that I think adds charm to the online experience.
So there you have it- if you’re sitting on the fence about Starbound early access, get off the fence and grab a copy! Starbound is good, adventurous fun and with the promise of large content updates in the future for this game, I could see this becoming one of the biggest Steam titles in 2014.
Steam of Consciousness 